Round Hill Asset Management Lowers Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Round Hill Asset Management lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,403 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises approximately 1.8% of Round Hill Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Round Hill Asset Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $480.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $473.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $451.25. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $358.49 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a PE ratio of 43.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.